SLU-PP-332 is one of the most exciting ideas in metabolic science right now: a compound that flips on the same machinery as endurance exercise, without the workout. In studies it has made sedentary animals behave like trained athletes, running farther and burning more fat, by switching on the genetic program the body normally reserves for hard cardio. It points toward a future where the benefits of endurance training can be captured in a molecule.
What SLU-PP-332 is
SLU-PP-332 is a synthetic small molecule that acts as a pan-agonist of the estrogen-related receptors (ERRα, ERRβ, and ERRγ), with its strongest activity at ERRα. It was developed in the lab of Thomas Burris, alongside Bahaa Elgendy, at Saint Louis University, which is where the “SLU” in the name comes from. The ERRs are nuclear receptors that sit at the controls of energy metabolism, and they are exactly the switches endurance exercise activates. SLU-PP-332 turns them on directly.
What the research shows
The science behind SLU-PP-332 is striking. In work published in ACS Chemical Biology in 2023, the Burris team showed that the compound increased mitochondrial function and boosted the oxidative muscle fibers associated with endurance. When given to mice, it let normal-weight animals run roughly 70% longer and 45% farther than untreated mice, triggering an ERRα-driven acute aerobic exercise genetic program.
The follow-up was just as compelling. In a 2023 study in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics titled “A Synthetic ERR Agonist Alleviates Metabolic Syndrome,” obese mice given SLU-PP-332 gained roughly ten times less fat than untreated animals and lost about 12% of their body weight over 28 days. They achieved this with no change in food intake and no change in activity, meaning the effect came from reprogramming metabolism itself, raising energy expenditure and fatty acid oxidation. The researchers reported no severe side effects, and have since seen early signs the compound may strengthen cardiac muscle in heart-failure models.
How it works
Endurance exercise works in large part by activating the ERR receptors, which then switch on genes for mitochondrial biogenesis, fat burning, and oxidative muscle capacity. SLU-PP-332 engages those same receptors directly, so the body reads the signal as though it had just done a long aerobic workout. The result in the animal studies is the endurance-trained phenotype: more mitochondria, more fat oxidation, greater stamina, and lower fat mass, all without the training itself. It is a fundamentally different lever from the appetite-based GLP-1 compounds.
Quick facts
| SLU-PP-332 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Synthetic small-molecule pan-ERR agonist |
| Primary target | ERRα (also ERRβ and ERRγ) |
| Developed by | Burris and Elgendy labs, Saint Louis University |
| Best known for | Acting as an exercise mimetic |
| Mouse results | ~70% longer running; ~12% body weight loss in obese mice |
| Research stage | Preclinical (animal studies) |
| Form | Lyophilized powder, reconstituted before use |
What to look for when buying
With a frontier research compound like this, the quality of the material is the whole experiment. Look for a Certificate of Analysis (COA) from third-party testing and an HPLC-MS purity figure of 99% or higher. Every batch of Marek Pharma’s SLU-PP-332 is HPLC-MS tested with a COA and ships from within Canada.
References
- Billon C, Schoepke E, Avdagic A, et al. Synthetic ERRα/β/γ Agonist Induces an ERRα-Dependent Acute Aerobic Exercise Response and Enhances Exercise Capacity. ACS Chemical Biology, 2023.
- Billon C, Schoepke E, Avdagic A, et al. A Synthetic ERR Agonist Alleviates Metabolic Syndrome. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2023.
For laboratory and research use only.